Car windscreens that "talk" could help prevent road accidents, according to new research from Oxford University.

Tests showed that motorists were far more able to combine driving with talking and listening when sound came from in front of them rather than from the side, as in the case with mobile phones.

Car designers should now consider introducing flat-screen loudspeakers in front of the driver, said Dr Charles Spence of Oxford's Department of Experimental Psychology.

Together with Dr Liliana Read from the Department for Transport, Dr Spence found that the physical location from which a person's voice is heard influences a driver's concentration.

Participants in experiments at an advanced driving simulator at Leeds University found it easier to divide their attention between eye and ear if the relevant sources of information came from the same direction.

In the tests a three-dimensional graphic scene of the outside world was presented on a screen in front of the windshield. Participants were asked to perform a listening and speaking task while "driving" around suburban and inner-city roads.

Two loudspeakers, one in front of them and the other to the side, alternately played words that participants were asked to repeat. The "drivers" performed much better when responding to the speaker in front.

Dr Spence said: "By adopting a more ecological approach to interface design in the future, it may be possible to develop multisensory warning signals that can more effectively stimulate a driver's senses and so reduce the risk of accidents while driving.

"The safest way of avoiding accidents, however, is not use to a mobile phone at all while driving."

The research has just been published in the Psychological Science publication.